


Up in the mountains, we glow gently

by secreterces5



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: F/M, Festival párů, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I honestly love this ship but NOONE ships it, My First AO3 Post, Pairing Festival, Trirax, it’s a challenge my friend Rwakk started
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 15:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16200308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secreterces5/pseuds/secreterces5
Summary: Out of nowhere, she fell into his arms– I mean, hooves. So he takes her back home. While travelling, Trixie and Thorax get to know each other better (innuendos not intended, it’s really just Trixie not being a total asshole).





	1. Decision

**Author's Note:**

> So just so you know, this has been written for a challenge, therefore it seems a bit short. But, if you care for some more of these the lovelies, I will happily write more :)  
> Enjoy and any critique is appreciated!

The new changeling king hasn’t seen such a beautiful day in a long time. The sunlight warmed their hive up, everyone was enjoying the calm day, his brother even called off the daily self–defence lessons, and since he always sat in the tower anyway, Thorax let him worry about the nest for a while and decided to go on a small walk.  
There was a surprising, but calming silence in the forests, which have grown there after Chrysalis has been defeated and surrounded the nest like a calm green blanket. On this hot afternoon, all the forest critters were hiding up in the trees and looked down curiously upon the creature who bore the aura of a leader, but came through the forest without calling for control over it. Here, he was one of them, just another seeker of a resting place.  
When he sat down in shade of a tall tree, slowly, they started to approach. First, a sparrow sat on a low branch. After him a second, a third, a fourth. Then, butterflies appeared on the flowers when understanding that he was no danger to them whatsoever. Two lizards came to bask in the sunlight on a nearby rock.  
Thorax sighed contently. Yes, a walk today was a good decision.

He overheard a silent screech. At first he thought it might be some bird, or a mosquito, but then it started getting louder... and louder...  
“...aaaaaaaaAAAAAAA **AAAA** –“  
Snapping branches accompanied by the continuing scream could be heard directly above his head and he looked up only to see something falling down on him.

Something living.

He raised his hooves up before the creature could hit the ground, but even then its weight pulled him down with a thump. The animals fled with squeaking and flapping wings and only Thorax had been left under the tree. No, Thorax and whoever had literally fallen into his hooves.

When lifting up off the body that pulled him into the grass, he blinked in surprise. Even with the lack of her hat and cloak, her blue shade of fur was unmistakable. “Trixie? Uh... Hi?”  
The wizard squinted at him through strands of hair covering her face. “Fausticorn knows my name... how flattering...”  
“You’re not dead, Trixie.”  
“Not yet...? Do you have a mission for me? Do I have to go back? Tell me the truth, will you send Twilight Sparkle back as well? Surely not. That’s my privilege only, am I right?”

Thorax chuckled. “Trixie, it’s me. Thorax. You are not dead.”  
Right then, the unicorn fully awoke, her eyes widened, she sat up and pushed Thorax as far from herself as she could. “Thorax?! What the– Thorax, I saw Fausticorn! They sent me back, I must tell Twilight to piss off!”  
The changeling king carefully laid a Hoof on her shoulder. “Trixie, you fell down from a clear sky. What are you doing here?”  
He brushed her mane away from her eyes. “The Great and Powerful Trixie had been trying out magic transportation over longer distances and miscalculated the destination. Oops.”  
“Oh. Alright. Should I lead you back to Ponyville?”  
“Pfft, I’m fine, just watch!” she smiled, but her horn only sizzled, sparked and puffed, and she was still there, in the forest, with him, not moving an inch. “...well heck.”  
The changeling gave her a smile: “That’s okay. Nothing’s happening today anyway and my brother can guard the hive. Would you like me to lead you back to Ponyville? I’ve been meaning to visit anyways.”

Trixie hesitated. Of the creatures she saved the world with, she liked Thorax the least. Starlight was her best friend and Discord was very similar to her, but Thorax... Thorax often acted like the most upbeat person there has ever been, and to her, his kind approach to anything and anyone was odd in contrast with his enormous power and his height (being as tall as a deer should, in her opinion, be proclaimed illegal). Even so, she was afraid she didn’t have any other option. “Fine... You will take the Great and Powerful Trixie back to civilization,” she decided.  
“Good. It’s a long way, so we should get going right away.”


	2. Far in the mountains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter was all fun and games, so let’s get a little serious. It’s cold in the mountains. Trixie hates being uncomfortable and makes no bones about it.  
> And noone ever uses the canonical fact that Thorax can turn into a bear.
> 
> Yeah this whole thing is basically just me whining about the lack of any Trirax artworks. Seriously, there’s NONE. At all. Go check. There’s one beautifully drawn child/fusion of theirs, then like two kinda weird drawings of them and that’s it.
> 
> This is the first time I’ve ever decided “there’s no artwork so I gues I’ll be the one making it.”  
> I’m very proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, what is up with Trixie being a street magician in a world where magic is normal?

Trixie had insisted that they spend the night in a cave. It wasn’t much warmer inside, her horn still refused to work after the magical exhaustion of teleporting all the way to the changelings’ hive, and Thorax’s magic mostly consisted of defensive spells, so neither of them could help banishing the chilly air. As a distraction, Thorax tried to get a conversation going, and after a few attempts, he succeeded.  
“Why did you ever want to become a street magician in a world, where the magic is a normal every day thing?”  
Trixie looked at him like he was asking the most simple question she has ever heard. “Look, Thorax: there is a difference between the dusty old–timey magic used by every single pony ever, and the magic that nopony has ever seen.”  
“Uh–huh...” The changeling very obviously didn’t understand a word.  
“Simply put, everypony can teleport, right?”  
“Well–“  
“We can discuss my abilities later. Everypony can teleport, but have you ever seen somepony change their mane with magic? Have you ever seen a unicorn do a magic spell without their horn glowing? My spells have their grace!”  
Now he understood, and his eyes shone like stars. “Oh, so you make magic... magical!”  
Trixie giggled to herself, then realized what she was doing and stopped. “Um. That is... that is a good description, yes. I like that.” Her conscience, which had a voice suspiciously similar to Starlight’s, told her that maybe she should ask Thorax something as well so she doesn’t come off as rude, and since the conversation wasn’t bothering her so far, she listened to this voice for once. “Thorax, could I ask something concerning the changelings?”

He stopped walking around the cave to keep warm and sat next to her.  
“It’s... about you in particular.”  
“Ask away,” he shrugged.  
She took a deep breath and then proceeded to ask: “How can you sleep with those antlers on your head?”  
He looked at her first, then looked up at his two orange appendages, the symbol of his reign. Technically speaking, they were mandibles, like a stag beetle would have, but than again that’s a bug named after a stag and those have antlers, so maybe they were both. “Actually... I don’t usually sleep with them. I don’t usually sleep in a changeling body at all. Most often I transform into something more comfortable, a bear, a snake, or a cat. You see, because fur is more comfy and I don’t have to worry about things such as crumpled wings and cramping neck. Sometimes I even spend my day as a different, smaller animal. It’s really worthwile.”

“Stop,” she silenced him with her hoof on his mouth. “Are you telling me that you can change into a bear. With warm fur. Thorax. _Thorax_. Why. Why did you not say anything. I’m _freezing_ over here, if you haven’t noticed!” she said angrily.

He looked at her apologizingly: “Sorry, I... I didn’t think it would be fair.”  
“Wouldn’t be fair?” She snorted and stepped aside. “The bear. Now.”  
“To my defense, I thought you wouldn’t want my help–“  
“Again, I am _freezing_!”  
In a second, where a changeling stood once, a mighty bear now laid, still considering her with confused eyes. Trixie without a second thought and with all the confidence laid down next to him and tried to hide in his fur as well as she could.  
“You freak me out sometimes,” she muttered. “This is freaking me out as well, because I hate bears, but it’s cold. End of story.”  
Anyone else would no doubt be offended, but Thlrax had the advantage of a creature able to read emotions. Trixie built herself thick walls out of pride and had prejudices against anything new and unknown, but she was glad to have her friends. He hoped to win her trust completely one day. Small things like her honest laughter or her eyes were worth it.


	3. Bathhouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We will not get to see anything new thanks to the anatomically incorrect visuals of the cartoon, which I honor in my stories as well. But just because we don’t get to see anything NSFW, it doesn’t mean we don’t get some wonderful sights.  
> Also, random fish cameos.

Since solely stallion monks have lived in the temple on the mountain pathway, they were never in need of more than one bathhouse. This had changed once they welcomed two unusual travellers into the temple, one of which was a blue unicorn filly.

Trixie now sat in a small yard in the temple and watched fish in a small fountain while trying to brush her mane with her hooves. Clopping hooves behind her drew her attention: her companion decided to join her. “One would not believe, how good a hot bath can make you feel after walking the whole day.”  
With her eyes still on the fish, she nodded. During three days of travelling she has managed to find out most things about the changeling community, about their habits, hierarchy, functions and beside other interesting details she found out they don’t have hot water. “You should visit the Ponyville spa sometimes, then.” She said it tersely, like most of her answers were. Her voice stayed austere the whole way, whether she was giving him advice, asking him or thanking for the bear fur protecting her from cold nights. But Thorax isn’t blind, and even as a normal pony he would recognize that she wasn’t indifferent about him. Their neutral relationship was growing stronger with every smile, every physical contact, with every word. He was glad. And Starlight would surely be happy as well, knowing that Trixie won’t just depend on her all the time.

Today in particular was very different from the nights and the sunlight was as powerful as it could be. It meant that they won’t have to worry about continuing on their way drenched from the bathhouse.  
With silent rustle, Thorax spread his wings and with a satisfied sigh exposed them to the sunbeams.

Trixie coincidentally chose that moment to look at him and she froze. The sight bedazzled her, literally and figuratively. A full rainbow reflected off of his chitin armor and green skin and created an ethereal aura around him. His membraneous wings and tail looked like broken glass, smoothed crystals collected and put together to be an accesory to the being, whose title of a king suddenly seemed to make so much more sense.  
And in that moment, somethin in her changed. She felt like she was seeeing Thorax for the first time.  
And those eyes, those radiant eyes, so alien, and yet she felt like she knew them forever and had their image burned into her memory.  
“Trixie? Are you okay?” he turned to look at her.

She blinked and shook her head a little to collect herself. The aura dissipated.

They returned to the path.  
Trixie didn’t speak up much, but neither did she before visiting the temple. Although now she was choosing the moments when she hoped he wasn’t looking at her and observed him, more carefully, with more curiosity. She wasn’t sure what and why she was doing, but that didn’t stop her from doing it. She kept spotting new and new details that captivated her, and she hated admitting that to herself.  
———  
“Thorax?” she asked him that evening. They weren’t far from Ponyville, but they weren’t close enough yet.  
“Hm?”  
“Would it be possible... uhm...” The street magician searched her mind for the right words. “Your kind basically lets the lo– the affection flow through the whole community of the hive, you said that, right? That you share it with each other?”

Puzzled by this question, but willing to answer, he nodded.

“Is it possible that you accidentally pull somepony else into this... ‘love cycle’? Somepony who spends more time with a changeling?”  
“Love is not contagious, Trixie,” he smirked, amused. Sweet Celestia, did he practice those smiles? She could’ve sworn he didn’t look like this a few days ago! “Each creature’s emotions are only theirs. We’re just... more open to it. But even we can isolate our feelings. We just don’t feel the need to. So, no, you’re not going to acquire a crush on seventy different creatures by hanging out with me.”

“Yes. Good. F–fine,” she nodded spastically and tried to alert her look anywhere else.

Thorax stretched and chose a place next to the trail where a flat rock laid, looking less uncomfortable than others around it. “We should get some sleep.”  
A shaky hoof on his shoulder stopped him from changing into the brown bear. “C–could you–“ Trixie cleared her throat and tried again with more dignity: “Could you stay a changeling? Just– just for tonight?”  
He didn’t protest, and the filly curled into herself next to his side. “Thanks, Thorax,” she whispered.  
He was going to answer her, but something interrupted his train of thought. Princess Luna let the full moon shine that night, and its gentle glow reflected in the drowsing pony. She was so close to him he could feel her heartbeat. Her mane seemed to be intrwoven with silver, stars seemed to bloom in her fur, pearls glimmered on ends of her eyelashes.  
He wasn’t sure about what he saw then, and it could’ve just been fog, but a light blue, almost white mist seemed to surround her.

He admired the sleeping flame she represented. And for the first time since he had become a king, he didn’t know what to do with the attention–seeking feeling in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know how good the “love-struck hallucination vision” descriptions are. I had fun with those. Imagine Trixie with pearls on her eyelashes, white flowers blooming on her sides and back, stars resting upon her mane... Thorax just looks like the gay pride flag – full rainbow :D


	4. Under the sky full of stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small midnight scene.  
> Random wolf pack cameos this time.

She was jolted awake by a sound resonating through her being. Trixie jerked her head upright and the sick feeling of suddenly waking up and immediately shaking her head around overwhelmed her for a few seconds, her sight was blurry and everything she could think of ached from sleeping on the cold hard rock.  
The sound did not fade and the unicorn finally realized, what it was: something somewhere close by was growling. Along with this she had a second realization, that Thorax is nowhere to be seen, and those two facts combined and immediately woke her up completely.  
“Thorax?” She jumped up and looked around for him. Nothing, and the growling, although varying in intensity, didn’t cease.  
Her fearful instincts told her to get as far away as possible, but her personal tiny Starlight deep in her thoughts shook her head in disagreement and just like the rest of Trixie, her conscience senses that Thorax will be somewhere close to the sound she would love to leave behind.  
She was absolutely right, but the scene, that appeared before her after turning a corner on the trail, still surprised her.

For one, there was a pack of wolves. In the moonlight, their fur shimmered like it was frozen over, the growling rose from the throats of the distrustful animals.  
Second; Thorax sat in the middle of the wolf pack, scratching one of them behind its ears.

She couldn’t do anything but stare. She herself has had a few run–ins with wild animals, and it never went down like this.  
Quietly, from a somewhat safe distance, she watched as the carnivores laid down around Thorax, and when she laid her eyes on him, she noticed that he was looking back at her. He gestured for her to come closer, but Trixie shook her head vehemently, she is not approaching a pack of wolves.  
Thorax shrugged and stood up. Many pairs of eyes followed him as he left the middle of the pack, then the animals got up and left.

Only when they disappeared far off between giant rocks, Trixie felt brave enough to speak: “What in a birch grove did you think you were doing?”  
Without a track of worry, he answered: “They thought they would eat us for dinner, so I explained it to them that they mistook me for a deer.”  
For some reason, this made her angry. “How can you say something like that so nonchalantly? You left me asleep and alone on the path and went to chat with a pack of wolves!”  
“If you wanted to chat, we could go to a coffee shop once we’re back in Ponyville.”  
“And moreover– wait,” her stream of irate words halved and she looked at him. “A coffee shop?”  
Thorax gave her one of those smiles that have, for some reason, been fascinating her since the morning prior. “Or a pizzeria, if you want to.”  
The magician shook her head: “Hold on, Thorax, why are you even inviting me anywhere?”  
He looked at her as if it was absolutely clear: “Well, along the way I have decided that I like your company, and I would like us to spend a little bit more time together before I go back home.”  
Trixie was a tiny bit afraid of the butterflies in her stomach fluttering at the image of hanging out with Thorax. But one coffee couldn’t hurt, could it? “Alright,” she nodded. “Once we’re in Ponyville, we can go for a coffee. And a mountain of normal food.”  
Together, they set off.  
The sun peeked up from behind the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you can give this ship a chance, because it’s that typical “asshole/sweetheart” thing but they are also a king and a street magician and Trixie is probably gay for Starlight and Thorax is a creature feeding off of love and my God now I’m angry again okay bye


End file.
